“Technology Ruins Romances”

ii.

She sat at her desk, distractedly playing with her pencil that had taken its fair share of her worried chewing. Beside her, the clock read 10:59 pm in its red riveting numbers. They always had their conversation at this time of night. The little ritual had started last month, and now every day she would countdown the minutes waiting for him. She looked anxiously at the chat icon. The clock read 11:01 pm. He’s taking awhile, she thought as she refreshed the page.

“I have something to tell you.”

He had said that 25 minutes ago, when she was just about to start on her art assignment that was due in a week. He then promptly left to go take a shower with a “BRB” and a winkey-face. It was a tease, but it was enough for her to become restless and put her homework on hiatus. She let out a sigh, closed her eyes, and returned to Kiss The Rain playing harmoniously from her laptop’s speakers. Interestingly enough, just as the song had begun to play, she had heard the rumbling of distant thunder and the soft pattering of rain falling against her bedroom window.

-Ding-

Her eyes snapped open in excitement at the recognition of the sound. Luckily she had lowered the volume on the music. The clock read 11:05 pm.However, as she read the name that appeared, her heart sank. It was just her lab partner asking about something that seemed incoherently useless to her at the moment. She quickly typed a few lines, wrote “lol” and said she had to go. Then she promptly clicked the close button on the chat.

She glanced at the clock again – 11:08 pm, the monotonous digital clock said. Three more minutes until 11:11 pm. She hoped that she wouldn’t miss it this time, because she knew what she needed to wish for.

It was by chance that they had started talking online last month. She had been listening to Kiss The Rain then too, and he had randomly messaged her about a math problem. A question about derivatives quickly turned to music and then a 4 hour conversation. He had promised to message her again the next day, and he had kept his promise every day for the pass month. Throughout that time, they had become quite close. To him, she was his greatest confidente, and to her, well, she knew the way she felt about him was more than friendship. It had passed that stage a long time ago.

And then yesterday he had messaged her about something he had kept secret for a long time. He was afraid of telling somebody how he felt. At first she was confused, but the more he talked the more excited she had become. She tried asking who it was, but he had avoided the question each time and just kept telling her that he was confused and unsure of what to do. Finally, she had told him to just tell the “girl.” He had “LOL” and said he was afraid of everything going wrong. The conversation had ended there, leaving her to think about it by herself through the night.

Now as she sat here waiting for him to come back, she chewed her pencil and her thoughts started swimming again. Could it be…?

-Ding-

The sound startled her so much that she almost fell off her chair. She tried to take a deep breath to regain her composure, but she couldn’t help feeling faint as she saw the name that had messaged her. At last…Hand shaking, she clicked the icon with her mouse and started reading:

11:10 pm: “I’m back, sorry for the wait. I was trying to calm myself in the shower.”

11:10 pm: “So…lol…remember how you told me to just be brave and tell her how I felt?”

11:11 pm: “thought it over last night and I decided you were right. You are always right lol”

11:11 pm: “I’m not sure if I should have told you of all people. It’s so embarrassing.”

(her heart began to race; she was surprised nobody was rushing into her room asking what the loud drumming was).

11:11 pm: “But you’re my good friend and I trust you. So you’re the first to know that…”